Development and application of an amylopectin-graft-poly(methyl acrylate) solidifier for rapid and efficient containment and recovery of heavy oil spills in aqueous environments.

Effective oil spill preparedness and response are crucial to ensure environmental protection and promote the responsible development of the petroleum industry. Hence, interest in developing new approaches and/or improving existing oil spill response measures has increased greatly in the past decade. Solidifiers are an attractive and underutilized option to mitigate the effects of oil spills, as they interact with oil to contain the spill, prevent it from spreading, and facilitate its removal from the environment.

Quantifying the effect of polyacrylamide dosage, Na and Ca concentrations, and clay particle size on the flocculation of mature fine tailings with robust statistical methods.

Polymer-driven flocculation and dewatering of mature fine tailings (MFT) is critical to improve their consolidation. MFT flocculation and dewatering depends on the size of the suspended clay particles, and on the composition and properties of the liquid in which they are dispersed. The effect of water chemistry on the polymer-particle dynamics is nontrivial, particularly for non-spherical, polydisperse particles such as natural clays.

Application of solidifiers for oil spill containment: A review.

The need for new and/or improvement of existing oil spill remediation measures has increased substantially amidst growing public concern with the increased transportation of unconventional crudes, such as diluted bitumen products. Solidifiers may be a very good spill response measure to contain and mitigate the effects of oil discharge incidents, as these interact with the oil to limit hydrocarbon release into air and water, prevent it from adhering onto sediment and debris, and could allow for oil recovery and reuse. Solidifiers change the physical state of the spilled oil from liquid to a coherent mass by chemical interactions between the spilled oil and the solidifier.

Humic acids: Structural properties and multiple functionalities for novel technological developments.

Humic acids (HAs) are macromolecules that comprise humic substances (HS), which are organic matter distributed in terrestrial soil, natural water, and sediment. HAs differ from the other HS fractions (fulvic acid and humins) in that they are soluble in alkaline media, partially soluble in water, and insoluble in acidic media. Due to their amphiphilic character, HAs form micelle-like structures in neutral to acidic conditions, which are useful in agriculture, pollution remediation, medicine and pharmaceuticals.

The solid-state cultivation of Streptococcus zooepidemicus in polyurethane foam as a strategy for the production of hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biopolymer with important applications in the pharmaceutical, medical, and cosmetic fields. This work explores the potentialities of a cylindrical polyurethane foam dowel with central aeration as a novel packed bed bioreactor for the production of HA. The goals were to provide a large surface area for oxygen transfer through the patches of liquid film that form in the pores of the foam in which cell proliferation and HA production occur and to easily recover the HA produced.